Versor Investments LP Buys 8,900 Shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 84.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,900 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Fortis were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 5.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,352,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,516,000 after buying an additional 73,682 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 163.8% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 227,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,347,000 after buying an additional 141,400 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis by 11.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 153,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,974,000 after buying an additional 15,605 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Fortis in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,830,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Fortis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,230,000 after buying an additional 507,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FTS shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Fortis Price Performance

NYSE FTS opened at $43.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.86 and a 12-month high of $46.06. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.65 and its 200-day moving average is $43.63.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4324 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. Fortis’s payout ratio is 71.61%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.